Method of covering a surface



April 20, 1937. H, 'CKE E AL 2,077,616

METHOD OF COVERING A SURFACE Filed March 14, 1936 Patented Apr. 20, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT tics Hill Cooke, Harlingen, and Guenther Weiske, Mission, Tex.

Application March 14,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to the class of hydraulic engineering and pertains particularly to an improved method of constructing canals.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of constructing cemented or lined canals, ditches, or other water passages having a lining, in which the necessity of constructing forms for the maintenance of the lining material in position until the same is set, is done away with.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of constructing a cement lined canal or ditch in which a wire fabric reinforcing material is employed for the maintename of pre-formed bricks of cement or other material in position over the surface of the canal to be finally bonded together by cement or other binding material.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of lining canals, ditches, or similar forms of construction in which a wire fabric is employed for bonding together bricks or other pre-formed bodies and in which the said pre-formed bodies are designed to receive the strands of the wire mesh so that the mesh will be held in a desired position while a bonding material is being poured.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved form of construction block so designed that the same may be readily used in side by side relation with other blocks of the same form upon curved surfaces, without materially varying the widths of the spaces between the blocks.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a portion of a ditch or canal constructed in accordance with the present invention and looking into an end of the same, with parts broken away to show details of construction.

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of the improved brick or block showing the same in association with a mesh of a wire fabric.

Figure 3 is a view in end elevation of the block.

1936, Serial No. 68,936

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of an end of the wire mesh showing the device employed for pulling the mesh into working position.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing wherein like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral l designates the cut-out area in the earth which is to be lined to form a ditch or canal. As will be readily appreciated, this canal or ditch may be of any desired cross-sectional design and in addition to employing the hereinafter described lining construction for canals or other areas cut into the earth, it will be apparent that the construction may be employed for surfacing an area of the earth surface for the formation of a road or for other similar jobs.

In carrying out the present invention in connection with the construction of a ditch or canal, the cut-out surface of the canal has laid thereover a wire screen 2 which is of relatively large mesh as is clearly illustrated in Figures 2 and 4.

The numeral 3 indicates a brick or block designed particularly for use in association with the screen wire. In the perspective view of a portion of the completed canal, the block is illustrated as being solid but it is contemplated to construct the same in thehollow form. illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 where the block is designated by the numeral 3a.

The block 3 may be of the same general proportions as a building brick but it is formed, as shown, with one side face inclined or oblique with respect to the opposite face, the inclined side face of a block 3 being indicated by the numeral 4. These side faces which run longitudinally of the block are provided each with a channel or groove 5 in which a longitudinal strand of the wire mesh 2 is adapted to fit.

After the screen wire 2 has been placed in position in the ditch or canal, it has attached to one end thereof a suitable device for effecting the pulling of the wire straight in the ditch so that the longitudinal strands will be disposed parallel with the side edges of the ditch. In the present method of working the invention, a. bar member 6 is employed which is shaped to conform generally to the cross-sectional contour of the ditch and this bar has the ends of the wire fabric secured thereto and is provided with means l in the form of forwardly converging bars held together at their forward ends in any suitable manner, as by a ring 8, for facilitating the attachment of a suitable pulling machine to the bar 6 such, for example, as a tractor. Additional side cables 9 may be connected between the pulling machine and the outer ends of the bar 6 so that a straight pull will be had upon the screen.

After the screen has been located in the desired position in the ditch, the bricks or blocks 3 are laid each in an area defined by two longitudinal and two transverse strands and each of the longitudinal strands is located in a groove or channel 5 in the side face of the brick. The bricks are also laid so that they extend longitudinally of the ditch and each has its inclined side face 4 opposing the straight or vertical side face of an adjacent brick. By this means, as will be apparent from Figure 1 of the drawing, the adjacent top edges of the bricks are prevented from coming close together as the bricks are laid to follow the curve of the ditch so that the bonding material may be readily worked into position between the bricks.

By the use of the longitudinal grooves or channels in the side of the bricks, the wire screen 2 will be held up from the surface of the earth so that the bonding material may readily flow in beneath the wire and thus firmly secure the same in the structure.

After the screen wire has been laid and the bricks have been disposed in the areas or meshes of the wire, as illustrated in Figure 1, a suitable bonding material, such as cement and sand mixture, is run into the areas between the opposed ends and side faces of the bricks until these areas are completely filled and a thin form of the mixture is then run over the surface of the bricks and smoothed out with brooms or other suitable tools so that the entire surface of the canal or ditch will be smoothly covered by the cement coating 10 and the areas between the bricks will be filled by the cement mixture, as indicated at H.

In Figures 2 and 3, the bricks 3a are modified forms of the brick 3 shown in Figure 1, in that these bricks are provided with their longitudinal openings l2. Otherwise, these bricks 3a are exactly like the bricks 3 in that each has one longitudinal side face l3 which is disposed at an inclination or obliquely with respect to the top and bottom surfaces and each longitudinal side face has a channel M for the reception of a longitudinal strand l5 of the wire mesh which is employed to dispose the bricks in the desired spaced relation.

As previously stated, the present construction is primarily directed to canals and ditches but it is to be understood, and it will be readily apparent, that the wire mesh 2 may readily be spread out over a fiat surface, such as a roadway, and the bricks 3 and 3a disposed in the meshes of the wire and covered with cement, in the manner described, for the construction of a road or other finished fiat surface.

We claim:

1. The improved method of laying a covering over a curved surface, which comprises laying over the surface a length of Wire mesh fabric, pulling the fabric longitudinally while holding it transversely curved to substantially conform to the surface curvature, then placing a brick within each mesh and upon the surface, maintaining the Wire fabric strands between the bricks and spaced from the surface a distance less than the thickness of the brick, and finally while maintaining the fabric so spaced and clear of contact with the surface, filling in the longitudinal and transverse areas between the bricks with a bonding material.

2. An improved method of laying a covering over a surface, which comprises laying over the surface a length of wire mesh fabric, pulling the fabric longitudinally to locate it in a desired relation with the surface to be covered, then placing a brick within each mesh and upon the surface, maintaining the wire fabric strands between the bricks spaced from the surface a distance less than the thickness of the brick, and finally while maintaining the fabric so spaced and clear of contact with the surface, filling in the longitudinal and transverse areas between the bricks with a bonding material.

3. The improved method of laying a covering over a surface, which comprises laying over the surface a length of wire mesh fabric, pulling the fabric longitudinally to locate it in a desired relation with the surface to be covered, then placing within each mesh and upon the surface, a brick having a longitudinal groove in a side face, locating an adjacent wire strand in the groove of the said brick tosupport the strand in spaced relation with the said surface, and finally while maintaining the fabric in spaced relation with tlre surface through the engagement of the strands with the bricks, filling in the longitudinal and transverse areas between the bricks with a bonding material.

HILL COCKE. GUENTHER WEISKE. 

